The Heroic Villain 2

by Charles Dean

  “So . . . about those titles,” the blonde said.

  “Yeah, actually, titles?” Bonnie asked.

  “Obviously not for you. You’re not even Human,” the blonde replied, looking over at the fox girl. “Wait, can he give you titles? Can we all get them even if we’re not Human?”

  “Oh my god, I wanna be a Lady! Or a Princess!” one of the girls in the back squealed. “This quest was totally worth it!”

  Yup, demagoguing might work sometimes, but it never trumps the greed of a good pack of murderous video gamers. Lucas laughed. He was easily able to tell an NPC from a player just based on their vastly different reactions. The Human NPCs, or at least the people Lucas was now sure were NPCs, were still aghast with their eyes fixed on the mangled pyromaniac’s body. The actual players, regardless of their race of choice, were eagerly staring at Lucas like dogs expecting treats. The mention of titles had excited them immensely, and they were now frothing at the mouth as they looked at him excitedly.

  “I don’t see why anything should matter but loyalty,” Lucas said. “Loyalty to the Imperium and loyalty to me. You all have proven both of these, and for that, I will do everything in my power to assure your title reflects it.”

  Viola leaned against her staff and looked up at him. “The Ladies of Lucas,” she said.

  “It can’t be ‘Ladies,’” the Dokkalfar said. “‘Lady’ is a title representative of someone’s holdings. It’s not just a vague term here like it is in”--she paused and looked at Lucas--“in other areas.”

  “Adriana, will you stop talking,” the blonde laughed. “You’re going to talk us out of a better reward, okay?”

  Lucas thought about what she said for a moment. He was trying to phrase his wording so that he could appease both the NPCs and the players, and it was hard to ambiguously describe the reward he would give them without actually knowing if it was even possible. He had no idea whether or not the system would generate the titles, or even if he would be able to bestow them, but he had to assume that both were possible. Thus far, it had done a wonderful job of generating quests and titles according to his actions, so he crossed his fingers and prayed this time would be no different.

  “A lady doesn’t have to own land. Ladies are merely the female equivalent of knights. While most knights in this country own land, it is not their land, wealth, or heritage that defines them. It is their strength in character, their loyalty, and their dedication to duty that make them stand out. It is their ability that separates them from the average soldier, their courage that places them above commoners, and their spirit that makes them special in the eyes of our glorious Goddess. So, yes, you can be Ladies. To call you Ladies based on your merits alone is something no one could question, but to assume you would be Ladies under my charge, to even give you a title such as ‘the Ladies of Lucas,’ would require an arrogance I do not have. So, I must ask this of you first: If you would, please be so kind as to accept this humble man’s title and defend me and my lands not only today, but also in the future. I am in your care.” Lucas finished his act by giving them a gentlemanly bow, one that he was certain even Viola would be proud of.

  “Oh my god!” one of the girls cooed. “That handsome face, that bow, that style of speech-- This quest is the best! Ever! Whoever designed this boss was definitely a girl.”

  “Yup! And someone mentioned bubble bath parties earlier,” another exclaimed excitedly. “I can’t wait for bubble bath parties!”

  “It would be my greatest honor.” One of the brunette Humans said as she came forward. Unlike most of the women that had joined him, who all wore leather armor, caster’s robes, or chainmail, this woman was dressed like a peasant, not a combatant. She was holding a pitchfork and wearing clothes more befitting of a barkeep, a fishwife, or a farmer than a soldier. “To serve you as one of your esteemed Ladies and protect you from those . . . monsters . . .” Her eyes flitted to the corpse as she borrowed his word before quickly returning to him.

  “I think you need a sword or something, boss,” Bonnie said. She stepped out of the ring of people that formed up the small circle and into the center with him. “Or not.” She had the same blank-eyed look of someone who was reading a system message that had popped up unexpectedly, and Lucas knew that she had just learned something for her to make that correction.

  “We shall all endeavor to prove ourselves, Baron Lucas,” the Dokkalfar promised reverently, “and earn your trust.”

  “Thank you. I hope for great things from all of you in the future,” Lucas responded.

  As he gazed out at the gathered fighters, Lucas was suddenly taken back to a time and memory that he hadn’t thought about in ages. He was no longer in a virtual world, standing in ankle-deep blood and gore in a run-down hotel that was desperately in need of both a deep cleaning and a construction crew, but was back in a conference room in a fancy, new, state-of-the-art building with Yu Hua by his side and holding his hand while they looked out over a crowd of prospective employees. He had worked with those employees for years after that day. He knew all of their names by heart, and as he looked over the “Ladies of Lucas,” he could see everyone in the memory transposed clear as day over this new group. Just thinking about back then, simply remembering that first day for a moment, was enough to rattle him.

  Yu Hua had been the perfect partner as they celebrated that joyous day, and he had caught himself staring at her time and time again despite everything going on around them and with so many other people present. He had practically twisted his neck off trying to keep his eyes on her, but now he was afraid to turn and look at the spot where she should have been. He didn’t know how to handle her absence in times like these. He wanted his mind’s eye to draw her perfectly, and he wanted to hold on to that image forever, to believe that she was still there with him. He was afraid that the moment he looked for her, she wouldn’t be there. He was afraid that the memory would fade and that he would once more be surrounded by strangers who all wanted something from him, whether it was a good time, a reward, or simply his attention.

  He looked over to Liu, who was standing to his left. She had driven two and a half hours to be with him and Yu Hua the day they officially opened the company in that same building, and her presence here with him now was grounding. She brought a sense of security and familiarity with her that helped combat the painful emotions he felt within him every time he remembered the person who wasn’t there with him any longer.

  Unable to help himself, he relented and looked over to his right. There, smiling back at him, was Yu Hua. Her beauty was something that grew with every recollection, but it also made his heart ache. He wanted to hold her, to freeze time and be stuck within the memory forever, but he couldn’t. The moment his gaze met her beautiful brown eyes, they warped and twisted into larger purple irises slightly hidden behind long red lashes. This new world around him had noisily interrupted his reverie, shattering his concentration and forcing him back to reality. Liu was talking. People were talking. Looks demanded his attention. The noisy shuffling of idle feet. Everything was working against his remembering Yu Hua, and it infuriated him.

  “Boss, my face isn’t that bad, is it?” Bonnie asked meekly as she averted her eyes so that Lucas couldn't see them. “What’s with that expression?”

  “It’s nothing,” Lucas answered, brushing aside her concerns and placing a hand on her shoulder. He took a deep breath to steady himself and help stop the adrenaline pumping into his veins from controlling his actions or words. “There is nothing wrong with that pretty face of yours at all. But we still have more pressing issues from what I’ve been told.” He turned away from Liu as he spoke and hoped that his actions justified his need to look away from Bonnie. Truthfully, he just needed the sense of familiarity Liu gave him.

  “Not only that, but we also have to deal with the headmistress,” Liu reminded him, “she is also part of the group. She was definitely one of the--”

  Lucas was trying to listen to her, trying not to thi
nk about the memory he hadn’t been able to hold on to, but he couldn’t. The entire time she was talking, the words were going in one ear and out the other. Everything around him--the noise, the chatter, Eri the Ant-Dragon making weird noises--was stopping him from thinking, and he was becoming more and more frustrated. If they hadn’t been talking so loudly . . . If they weren’t just yammering nonstop . . . He ground his teeth together in frustration. It’s their fault her face vanished. It’s their fault I can’t remember her. Every time he came close to picturing her, something new broke his focus. He just wanted one moment of silence.

  Enough, enough, enough . . . enough . . . ENOUGH . . . “ENOUGH!” Lucas roared, finally letting his thoughts escape. He slammed his staff onto the floor and a small torrent of Arcane Energy burst forth. The unleashed energy scarred the floor underneath him in a broken circle that looked akin to something that a child trying to draw the sun by picking a spot on the paper and then drawing a thousand lines with yellow crayon out from that point in all directions might have created.

  Liu and Bonnie, who had both been closest to him, stepped back with fear in their eyes. Lucas quickly scanned the room, which had finally fallen silent, and saw that his anger had scared almost all of them. Everyone had gone from laughing, giggling, and enjoying the pleasant mood to studying him as they waited to see what would happen next. Only Lilith, watching from a distance, was smiling as she studied their reaction to his outburst.

  Liu stepped closer and rested a hand on his arm. “Lucas, are you . . . Are you okay?”

  “Yeah, I’m just . . .” Lucas paused as he put his words together and tried to recall anything that Liu had said, but it was all lost on him. He dragged a hand across his face and used it as an excuse to think for a moment. All he could do was play it off as anger derived from a different source, but he didn’t bother quelling the shaking bass within his voice from the adrenaline that was still tightly squeezing his heart. “I’m just so angry at what these so-called nobles are trying to put you all through. Everyone has fought so hard. We barely managed to survive--and only just made it through thanks to your timely arrival--and they’re already trying to throw us to the wolves yet again. It’s maddening. I’ve only interacted with most people here for just a brief moment, and many are already lost to us, yet still more fighting is surely on the way. I cannot ask this of you. I cannot take the thought that these elite soldiers will come and put you in grave danger yet again; or, worse yet, that you will die willingly for some honor I cannot deserve.”

  As he spoke, Lucas heard an “oh” here and there from the crowd as they bought into his story that he was angry on their behalf, not at them, and that he was angry at the prospect of their getting hurt, not actually wanting to hurt them. He never would have fallen for the story if someone fed it to him, so all he could do was chalk up his success to his high Charisma score.

  He sighed and let his eyes fall to the floor in front of him.

  “Well, is there any other option?” the brunette farmer asked hopefully. “Either you die here, or we fight to keep you alive. If you can’t stand the idea of us getting hurt, isn’t it selfish to not let us hate the idea of you getting hurt? We have to do something to protect you. There aren’t any other good nobles in this town. They’re all arrogant, pompous, evil, and selfish. If you die and they live, there is no future for any family I might raise, “So, for that, I beg you: don’t send us away to protect us.”

  Lucas felt a little guilty. He had turned an outburst of uncontrolled emotion and idiotic 90s-esque emo-rage into some cop-out plea that was working. Covering up his mistake had earned him bonus loyalty points, at least with the NPCs.

  “I’ll never turn you away,” Lucas said, “but I can’t let you die by staying with me either. Let me think. There must be a solution where we aren’t pushed to the brink of desperation by this. There has to be a way where I won’t have to risk your lives to not risk my own.”

  Bonnie, a step farther away from Lucas than usual, still looked like he had stepped on her tail. She didn’t meet his eyes, but meekly asked, “What ideas were you thinking, boss?” There was almost no confidence in her voice this time.

  Crap, I really messed up, Lucas thought to himself, grimacing. He didn’t know what to say to her to help restore her ego without saying the wrong thing and coming off like a creep. Well, no matter what I want to say, I’ll have to wait. Too many people are watching for me to not embarrass her. “Hmm . . . I think what I’d really like to see is . . . Do you know how to get in contact with Willmarth?”

  “Yeah,” Liu answered. “I saw him last when we were in the market earlier today at one of the local merchants’ shops haggling. ”

  “Could you ask him to prepare a few of the gifts so we can do that plan we always wanted to try back in Hesse?”

  “Uhh . . .” Liu looked away, clearly not wanting to tell him “no.”

  “Yeah, I’m with her, boss,” Bonnie said. “I don’t think that’s a good idea here.”

  “Do you have a better idea?” Lucas asked.

  “We can prepare Operation Fibble Found a Toy,” Liu said slowly, “but it doesn’t really feel like . . . us.”

  “It doesn’t matter whether or not it feels like us. It is us,” Lucas answered. “We can’t fight each and every enemy with even odds on even ground. We might live through the first battle, but each subsequent fight will wear us down until we’re stubs. We must be creative, clever, cunning, and cruel to those who would harm any person in this room.”

  “I don’t know why you guys are complaining,” Viola said. “I’m personally excited about this. It’s so . . . villainous. Who needs the noble knight in shining armor fighting a dragon head-on? This will be much more beautiful, and it’ll make Lucas seem so much viler to those nobles.”

  You do realize this isn’t just our inner circle? Lucas wanted to say to Viola, but whether intended or not, her words had an interesting effect on some of the players, or at least some of the people that Lucas was certain were players. He even heard one or two mention how they liked the “believable villain growth” of the questline.

  Then, before the chatter could break out any further, or Bonnie could make it halfway to the door to begin putting Operation Fibble Found a Toy in motion, Lilith appeared in the middle of the circle. Lucas hadn’t even seen her walk forward. She was just suddenly there, and everyone else seemed just as surprised as he was. “You all seem to have mistaken something,” she said, her voice slightly deafening as it dwarfed the volume of chatter around her. “Our Lord Lucas isn’t a villain; he’s a hero. Villains are the noblemen and ladies who use their station to take whichever commoners they want in whatever way they want. Villains are the type who embezzle, steal, and force money out of others so they can hoard their ill-gotten gains within their caves like dragons. You call him a villain for being cunning because the world has taught you that progress and intellect are evil. They want you to work hard, not smart, because they are afraid of how smart you really are. They want you to sweat, not think, because they fear what you will think about. They want you to work until you’re so tired you can’t think, and you forget who you are so their hands can slip in your pockets, your pants, your dreams, and rob you of all you’re worth. I don’t know what this ominously vague and mysterious Operation Fibble Found a Toy is, and I’m sure most of us are in the dark, but I know that it isn’t evil or villainous. I know this because it was designed by Lucas.”

  The room was quiet. Even Lucas hung on her every word. He didn’t know when or how he got swept up in them, but he was caught up in what she was saying. For a moment, he actually believed he was the nice, upstanding, intelligent, noble hero she was describing. Then, he remembered who she was. She was the girl who had smiled at the idea of him eating flesh, who had enjoyed every minute of him killing students, and who had slowly butchered a teacher in front of his class.

  “But,” she continued after a moment’s pause. “You don’t have to believe me. You don’t have to
consider him as anything. He can be a hero or a villain when you close your eyes at night. I only ask that you remember for whom he is doing these acts society considers vile, that it’s your protection and safety he is trading his morals for, and that it’s you all whom he will be loyal to first. Because, if he were alone and concerned only with himself, he could have run. If he weren’t trying to help every person in the Imperium, Linnaeus could have flown him to safety in a moment. He only stayed because he worried about the fate that will befall you if he didn’t.” She let those last few words drag out as she turned to face Liu. “So, don’t question Lucas and ask whether or not he is a villain.” She dropped the broad, oratorical pattern she had previously been speaking with when she said this. Her last sentence was clear, concise, and terse. It sounded like a threat.

  Liu didn’t respond. She even didn’t seem to know how to handle what was just said.

  “Well, I think there has been enough talking about the subject,” Lucas concluded, taking back control. “Since you all don’t know what Operation Fibble Found a Toy is, let me explain it to you as I walk you into position. We’ve got a lot of work to do, and I don’t know how long it’s going to take for them to show up. Also, can I get a few of you to reinforce the ladders up? I don’t want anyone but the Ostreicher bears to make it to the fifth floor. I’ll double down on the traps, but you all are going to need to work together.”

  “And you two”--Lucas pointed over at the Dokkalfar and her friend who had spoken up earlier--“can you both help keep an eye on the front gate. When Ostreicher’s forces show up, I need you to pretend like you are betraying me and lead them to a certain room. I don’t want them killing anyone on their way up, so make sure they don’t start any trouble. If they look hostile, like they can’t be sweet-talked or like they believe you are leading them to a trap, then just run. Your lives are more important than theirs, and we’ll adjust the strategy.” Lucas turned to Liu and Viola. “Lastly, can you two make sure the girls are ready for the plan, minimize the chances of their getting hurt?”